Mine door



B. COOKE April 4, 1933.

MINE DOOR Filed July 8, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 jwue/wtom (IN/mm B66 Coolie B. COOKE April 4, 1933.

MINE DOOR Filed July 8, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mex/"ago.

April 4, 1933. COOKE 1,903,384

MINE DOOR Filed July 8, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Apr. 4, 1933 V BEE oooxn, or DAVY, WEST VIRGINIA MINE noon Application filed July vs,

The device forming the subject matter of this application is a control for mine doors, and the invention aims to providea simple means whereby the doors, when opened, will be latched in open position, the

doors remaining open until the car has passed, whereupon the doors will close automatically. Althoughthe device is described as applied to mine doors, it of course may be used for other purposes.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the invention appertains.

l/Vith the above and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of. the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what isclaimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 shows in horizontal section, a device constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is ,a vertical transverse section on the line 22 ofFig. 1, the line 11 on Fig. 2 indicating where the cutting plane of Fig. 1 is taken;

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 3.-3 of Fig 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section on theline 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a fragmental sectional view illustrating one of the doors latched in open position; V

Fig. 6 is a composite perspective view illustrating one of the bearings and the corresponding door pintle;

Fig. 7 is a composite perspectiveview illustrating the other or lower bearing, together with the cooperating door pintle.

'Thenumerals 1 and 2 designate the rails of a railway track, in the present instance, a mine track. An upstanding frame 3 extends across-the railroad'trac'k. ;The frame 3 need not be described detail, because it 932. "Serial No. 621,498.

may be constructed as desired. [Upper bearings 4 (Fig. 6) are provided, and are se: cured to theframe 3L Theupperbearings 4 have holes 5 adapted to receive theupper port-ionsofhingefpintles 6' secured to the upperjportions of oppositely disposed, coop-' crating doors 7 and'8. To the lower po tions of the doors and 8 are secured hinge plntles 9 (Fig. 7 each hingepintle carry- [ing a. cross bar ,10. Bearings 11 are secured to the frame 8 and carry raised disks 12 in which the lower hinge pintles 9 are journaled. The disks 12 have seats 14 arranged at right anglesto the rails 1 and 2,andadapted to receive the bars 10 of the hinge pintles 9. The hinge pintles 9 -and 6 are not in the same vertical axis. F igures 2 and 8, for instance, show that the pper hinge pintles 6 are set inwardly more'than arethe lower hinge pintles 9. 1 The result is that when the doors are opened, a naturaltendency, unless the doors are held opened, exists, which causes the doors to swing toclosed position by gr'avity. WVhen the doors are closed,the cross bars 10 of the lower hinge pintles'9 are received in the seats 14 of the disks- 12, to

hold the doors releasably closed, the construction being such that the doors will not tend to swing open due to a draft, it being possible, nevertheless, to openthedo'orswhen an opening force is applied thereto by the bump. of the mine car orotherwise," Figure 1 shows that, outwardly of the rail 2, the frame 3,,carries bearings115 in which is journaled a shaft 16 extended lengthwise of the rails 1 and 2, thatis, parallel to the track. The shaft 16 can rock in the bearings 15, but it is held against longitudinal movement therein. 011 the outer ends of the shaft 16 (Figs. 2 and 1) there are depending,[first crank arms 17 to which are threadedinwardly extended, two-part links 18, the constituent'members of which are threadedftogether, as shown at 28, so that "the effective length of the links 18 may bechanged. The inner ends of the links 18 are connectedto outwardly extended brackets 1.9 that are se- '21 is overhung and protected by the angle bar 23 and the inner end of the spring is connected to an anchor hook 22 engaging the inner end of the car-operated member. 20.

Latches 27 (Fig. 2) are provided, and are adapted to cooperate with keepers 32 onithe door 8, when the door 8 is opened. The

latches 27 are located on opposite sides of.

the door 8, as Fig. 1 will show. The latches 27 are fulcrumed intermediate their ends,

as'shown at 29, on sup-porting plates 30 car ried by the frame 3. The supporting plates 30 are provided at their outer ends with stops 31 (Fig.1) which overhang the outer ends of the latches 27 and limit the upward movement of the outer ends of the latches, and ,the" downward movement of the inner ends of the latches. Brackets 33 are attached to the latches 27 outwardly of the fulcra 29 of the latches. Substantially vertical actuatin rods 26 have sliding movement in the brackets 33, although thatsliding movement is limited and controlled by a mechanism hereinafter to be described. The lower ends of the actuating rods 26 are pivoted to inwardly extended second arms 25 (Figs. 2 and 1) on the ends of the shaft 16. Lower abutments 34 are secured to the actuating rods 26 for adjustment longitudinally of the said rods. Upper abutments 35 are secured to the actuating rods 26 for adjustment longitudinally of the actuating rods. The upper abutments 35 engage with the upper surfaces ofthe brackets 33 on the latches 27 Compression springs 36 surround the actuating'rods 26. The upper ends of the compresslon springs 36 engage the brackets 33 on the latches 27, and the lower ends of the said springs engage the lower abutments 34.

- Thelatch mechanism for the door 7 is practically the same as the latch mechanism for the door 8, the door 7 having the keepers 32 hereinbefore described. The latch mechanism for the door 7 may be described in a catalogue of parts. It comprises the latches 37 of Fig. 2, mounted intermediate their ends'for vertical swinging movement, the brackets 38 on the latches, the upper abutments 39, the lower abutments 40, and the compression springs 41, these parts cooperating with the actuating rods 42 in the way hereinbefore described in connection with the actuating rods 26.

The lower ends of the actuating rods 42 are pivoted to the outer ends of outwardly extended crank arms 43 on shafts 44 extended longitudinally of the track, and located outwardly of the rail 1, the shafts 44 being j ournaled in bearings 45 on the frame 3, on the railroad ties, or elsewhere. On the shafts 44 are mounted depending arms 46 to which The inner'ends of the links 47 are connected to inwardly extended brackets 49 on the caroperated member 20. A guard rail 50 is disposed .oppo'site to the car-operated member 20, and is secured to the ties of, the track, in

closely adjacent relation to the rail 1.

As the car approaches the frame 3 the flanges of the wheels of the car, on one side of the car, are held against the rail 1 by the guard rail 50, and'the flanges of the wheels of the car on the other side of the car pass between the car-operated member 20 and the rail 2, the car-operated member 20 being carried inwardly, against the action of the spring 21. When the car-operated member 20 moves inwardly, the brackets 19 and the links 18 of Fig. 1, cooperating with the'arms 17 (Fig. 2) of the shaft 16, rock the shaft 16 clockwise, and the arms 25 on the shaft 16 raise the actuating rods 26, the springs 36 exerting an upward thrust on the brackets 33 that are carried by th'elatches 27 the latches being swung on their fulcra 29, the outer ends of the'latches 27 being raised, and the inner ends of thelatches 27 being lowered, so that, when the door 8 is opened, the keepers 32 on the door 8 will engage automatically with theinner ends of the latches 27. Here note that although the'inner ends of the latches 27 are held down, in the path of thekeepers 32 on the door 8, by the actuating rods 26, they are yieldably held in the position stated, by the springs 36, so that, when the keepers 32 come into contact with the inner ends of the latches 27 the latches can tilt a little, and engage with the keepers32, the springs 36 then maintaining the latches '27 in engagement with the door 8, regardless of the direction in which the door is swung, that is, either to the right or to the left inFig. 1, until the latches are released from the keepers, by an operation which will be described hereinafter. V

Referring to Fig. 1, itwill be observed that when the car operated-member 20is carried inwardly by the flanges of the car wheels which are adjacent to the rail 2, the brackets 49 are carried inwardly, the brackets imparting movement to the links 47. The links 47, cooperating with the arms 46 on the shafts 44, rock the said shafts, and the arms 43 (Fig, '2) on the shafts 44 raise the actuating rods 42 and tilt the inner ends of the latches 37 downwardly, as hereinbefore described in connection with the latches 27 so that when the door 7 is opened, either to the right or to the left in Fig. 1, one of the keepers 32 on ing latch 37, the door 7 thus, being held open, along with the door 8.

When the flange of the wheel on the car has passed clear of the car-operated member 20, the spring 21 of Fig. 1 reacts, and pulls the car operated member 20 outwardly, against the rail 2, and into the position shown in Fig. 1. The car operated member 20 new acts reversely on the latches 27 of Fig. 2, to raise the inner ends of the said latches and disengage themfrom the keeper 32- of the door 8, the door 8 swinging to a closed position, by gravity, owing to the ofl'- set relation hereinbefore described, and existing with respect to the pintles 9 and 6 of Figs. 7 and 6, that relation being illustrated in 2 and 3 of the drawings.

The latches 37 are raised at their inner ends, the door 7 is released, and the door '2 is permitted to'clo'se by gravity, as does the door 8.

It is not necessary to trace through again, the operation of all of the parts which bring about the closing of the doors 7 and 8, and the description of the operation of the door 8, as to closing, will suflice. Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that when the car-operated member 2O is pulled outwardly against the rail 2, by the spring 21, the brackets 19 and the links 18, acting through the crank arms 17 of Fig. 2, rock the shaftltl, arms 25 on the shaft 16 pulling downwardly on the rods 26, the upper abutments 35 on the rods 26 acting through the brackets 33 to tilt the latches 27 on their fulcra 29, thereby raising the latches 27 at their inner ends, and disengaging the inner ends of the latches 27 from the keepers 32 on the door 8, so that the said door can close. Brackets 49 of Fig. 2 impart a corresponding movement, terminating in the latches 37 of Fig. 2, and disengage the said latches 37 from the keepers 32 on the door 7 and the door 7 thereby being permitted to close by gravity, along with the door 8.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described, a track, a car-operated member disposed adjacent to the track, a frame disposed adjacent to the track, a door hinged to the frame and cooperating with the track, the door being disposed in the path of a vehicle on the track, a keeper on the door, a latch movably mounted on the frame and engageable with the keeper to hold the door open, the door being freely movable with respect to the latch, whereby the door may be hunted open, 'to bring the keeper into engagement with the latch, by engagement with a vehicle moving along the track, and mechanism connecting the car-operated member with the latch for moving the latch into the path of the keeper, said mechanism embodying means for holding the latch yieldably in the path of the keeper, whereby the latch may yield and on gage the keeper when the door is opened, means for actuating the car-operated member to disengage the latch from the keeper when the car is clear of the car-operated member, and means for then closing the door.

2. A device of the class described, constructed as set forth in claim 1, and further characterized by the fact that the track in-.

cludes rails, the car-operated member being a supplemental rail disposed adjacent to one of the track rails, and the means for actuating the car-operated member to disengage the latch from the keeper when the car isclear of the car-operatedmember, being a spring,

anchored at one end, and connected at its opposite end to said supplemental rail.

8. In a device of the class described, a track, a car-operated member disposed adjacent to the track, a frame disposed adjacent to the track, a door hinged to the frame and cooperating with the track, a keeper on the door, a latch movably mounted on the frame and engageable with the keeper to hold the door open, and mechanism connecting the car-operated member with the latch for movwhen the caris clear of the car-operated member, and meansvfor then closing the door, said mechanism embodying a shaft supported for rotation and having cranks, means for connecting one crank with the car-operated member, a plunger pivoted to the other of said cranks and slidable on the latch, and a spring forming a connection between the plunger and the latch.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have, hereto aflixed my signature.

BEE COOKE. V 

